The Density of Negligence
by Darth-Taisha
Summary: After going out for a few months, Hikari begins to feel neglected because Kei is working all the time. Will their relationship survive or will they break up? Kei and Hikari/Humor/Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**The Density of Negligence**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own S.A. manga/anime or any of the characters in it, I am just borrowing them for a little while. They are solely owned by Maki Minami.

**Author's Note:** I am a huge fan of S.A. and I noticed sadly, it doesn't get a lot of love on these boards. So, I thought I would write a short fic in honor of one the most adorable romantic comedy animes I have ever watched. Enjoy.

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><p><strong>~1~<strong>

Working diligently on his laptop in the school library, Kei was momentarily caught off guard when a pair of hands covered his eyes. Mentally preparing himself to toss whoever dared to lay hands on him across the room, his body tensed and coiled for action.

"Guess who," he heard a sunny voice say and was relieved when he recognized it as the voice of his girlfriend.

"Hikari," he breathed out and felt himself relax and lean his head against her warm body_. I've missed you_, he thought and closing his eyes he momentarily just savored the opportunity to be near her. They had just started going out a few months ago, but they had both been so busy (well, mainly him) they have barely had any time to go out or just be together.

"What are you working on?" Hikari asked as she sat down in the chair next to his.

"A report for work," he responded briefly and his eyes darted a glance at his watch and he saw there was only an hour left before it was due over at headquarters, and he still needed to finish three more pages.

"Oh," came her reply and after examining his face more closely she saw he had dark circles under his eyes and he looked more than a little weary. She sat there for a few more minutes and just watched him with growing concern.

"Did you need something, Hikari?" Kei asked while typing away furiously and reading a report at the same time.

"Uh no," his girlfriend said slowly as she was beginning to feel like she was bothering him. "Not really, I just walked by on my way to volleyball practice and I saw you working in here, so I thought I'd say hello."

Kei turned his attention off of work and sent her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry I have been so busy lately. I promise I will make it up to you soon."

"Oh, I understand…it's no problem," she told him while giving him an overly bright smile. "I've been busy too."

"Hm…mmm," he murmured while completely focused back on his report.

Frowning in worry, Hikari turned and left and when she got to the door she peeked back at him and saw he was completely absorbed in what he was doing.

Her shoulders slumped a little as she thought, _he is working really hard_. Soon her mind automatically decided that she should be working equally hard. NO…HARDER THAN HIM. Punching her fist in the air she ran the rest of the way to practice, determined to give it all she had.

Near the end of practice:

Hikari served the ball and the returner on the other side yelped in fear as she scrambled out of the pathway of the ball and let it hit inside the court. The ball bounced so hard it hit the back wall and ricocheted up to the ceiling and back on the court.

The coach blew the whistle. "Game over!"

Hikari dusted her hands off together with a satisfied grin, knowing she had given it her all and worked hard. Her team-mates all around her collapsed on the court, unilaterally thanking God practice was over and they were still alive.

"Hanazono, come here for a moment," her coached yelled out after dismissing practice. Hikari immediately ran over there.

Humming to herself jauntily on her way to the locker room, Hikari mulled over what she should do after school tomorrow. The coach told her it wasn't necessary to come to practice for the rest of the week, so now she had some extra free time.

_I wonder if I should call Kei and see if he wants to go out on a date or something,_ she was considering while opening her locker…

"Yeah, I had to dump him," Hikari overheard one of her team-mates tell another in a sad voice with a hint of bravado in it. "Over the past month we had both been so busy we barely had any time together and… I felt like we started growing a part..."

Hikari paled as her body went totally still and she began to listen very closely with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her team-mate's situation sounded uncomfortably close to what has been going on with her relationship with Kei.

"He was always working or hanging out with his friends…and never made any time for me…" her team-mate continued with words that were growing increasingly bitter. "…So, I dumped him, before he had the chance to dump me."

"You did the right thing, Mika," another team-mate said with the absolute conviction only a best-friend has. "Only losers allow themselves to get dumped!"

"Loser," Hikari choked out as all the air was sucked out of her lungs in panic. A hot, searing, competitive flame washed over her mind effectively burning out most of her gentle feelings towards Takishima.

_I WILL NOT LET HIM BEAT ME TO IT, I WILL DUMP HIM FIRST!_

In a blind panic she began to run home and when she got there, she couldn't stop. She still had too much energy and she knew she would end up getting in trouble for breaking something in the house, so she kept on running. She ran to the river and then ended up running back to school because she left her books in the greenhouse. By the time she made it inside, reason was beginning to gradually take over her mind again and she was starting to feel more than a little stupid and guilty for doubting him.

As she picked up her books off of the table, her eyes drifted over to the seat where he always sat and it dawned on her that he hadn't been joining them for tea much lately. She also remembered he has missed a lot of school over the past few weeks, because he has been going on business trips with his dad.

"I'm sorry, Kei, for not trusting you," Hikari said out loud to his empty chair.

Feeling a lot better, she pulled out her phone and decided to call him and see if he was free to go out on a date with her tomorrow. The phone rang several times before it went into his voicemail.

After the beep, she said, "Hi, it's me. I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me after school. I-if you can't… I understand, call me when you get a chance."

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><p>In the middle of a long and boring meeting with his Board of Directors, Kei felt his phone vibrate and he saw he had a voice message from Hikari. Normally he would wait until the meeting was over before he listened to the message, but today he found he couldn't wait.<p>

With the sound of one of the directors rambling off financial numbers and figures in the background, Kei listened to the lovely sound of her voice asking him out on a date and felt himself melt. It pleased him greatly to have her seek him out for once; normally he was the one that called her.

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks…he had to work tomorrow after school and throughout most of the evening. A dark and cold aura began to surround him as he peered around and began to feel suffocated by all of the responsibility placed on him. He longed for fresh air and Hikari.

Looking at her name on the screen of his phone he released a tired sigh, _I'm sorry Hikari, just wait for me a little longer._

After sending her a text, he turned his full attention back to the meeting.

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><p>Hikari was in the middle of doing her homework when her phone began to vibrate, letting her know she had a text message. Her heart felt like doing a little dance when she saw it was from her boyfriend.<p>

Then it sunk like a stone after she read what he texted her.

I'm sorry Hikari, I will not be able to go out with you. I have to work.

Closing her eyes and sucking in a deep breath, Hikari leaned forward and tried to get her mind back on studying. Every once in a while her eyes would shift to his text and a small sigh would escape her mouth…

**Author's Note:** I love Hikari and Kei and all of the members of SA, they are really great. Right now I am planning for this story to be about 2 or 3 chapters, but it could end up being more. Thanks for reading and I would appreciate any feedback you would care to leave me.

**Note to all of those reading my Naruto fanfics:** (Kismet at the Tabu and Not So Blunt Differences mainly). I am also working on them and should have new chapters posted by the end the week. Big hugs and thanks to all of you who have sent me messages and left reviews, you guys are awesome!


	2. Chapter 2

**The Density of Negligence**

**~Chapter 2~**

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><p>"HIII-YAA!"<p>

Hikari's mother's eyes shot open. The bedroom was still dark and a weary glance over at the clock beside the bed, showed her it was only 4:00 a.m. in the morning.

_Sheesh, what the hell is my daughter up to_, she thought and listened for a few moments and when it seemed all was silent again she laid her head back on the pillow. _Ah good, she must have gone to bed again. _

Closing her eyes and rolling over, her mother promptly fell back asleep.

The violent sound of wood splintering in all directions soon told her otherwise and she jumped out of bed and stuck her head out the window.

"Hikari! What are you doing!?"

As though she had been sleep-walking, Hikari stood still before opening her eyes up wide as she looked at the carnage all around her. There was a huge stack of roughly cut firewood that used to be a table her father was making, right in front of her and there were flecks of dust and wood-chips in her hair.

Her expression was sheepish as she lifted her hand up in apology as she looked up at her semi-irate parent. "Sorry, mom, I couldn't sleep."

After directing a long, penetrating look at her daughter, her mother asked, "What is the matter with you? Are you alright?"

Hikari forced a smile to her face and gave a falsely cheerful laugh, "I'm fine, really. Um…" she said and tried to come up with a plausible excuse to give her sharp eyed mother and snapped her fingers when she finally came up with one. "Um, I am just worried about finals…yeah; I just really want to beat Takishima this time." Raising her strong fist in the air, she forced out another laugh, unfortunately it sounded a little maniacal to her beleaguered parent.

Her mother released a long, pent up sigh as she shook her head in a mystified sort of way. As she headed off back to bed, she realized even if she lived for a million years, she would probably still not understand how her daughter's thick brain worked.

Hikari took one last look around her and grimaced as she knew her father was going to blow a gasket when he woke up and saw the condition of the table he had been working on. He had been working on it for weeks and it had been nearly finished, now sadly, it was only fit to be used as firewood.

Her head drooped along with a painful groan of regret as she headed back inside and towards her room. And even though she was really worried and mad at herself she fell asleep almost immediately.

S*S*S*S

Seated around the large and ornate table in the greenhouse, the bell rang announcing it was the start of the second period. All of the S.A. members were present except for Hikari, for some strange reason she was absent.

Kei looked over at the empty chair beside him and a worried frown began to sketch over his brow. They had final exams to take tomorrow and he knew Hikari would rather die than to miss those last few review classes and those last few golden hours to study.

A small smile touched his mouth as he thought about how predictable she was about some things. It was one of the qualities he loved about her. He loved her honesty and integrity and how she always looked for the good in people even when they were jerks.

To him; there was no one else on the earth like her and when she wasn't near him, everything around him was shrouded in gray, semi-darkness, making it impossible for him to see the sun. Even as these mushy thoughts crossed his mind, he knew they sounded corny, but he couldn't deny they were true.

Suddenly, he couldn't stand her absence one minute longer and he took out his cell phone and was about to text her when a melodramatic groan from Akira stopped him.

"Uhg, why isn't my angel, Hikari, responding to me," she wailed as glared at her offensively silent cell phone. "It isn't like her to miss school, especially this close to final exams." Her eyes went wide as she suddenly thought of something utterly horrific, "Oh no! I wonder if she is sick or injured…my poor darling, what if she needs me!?" Overwrought tears began to pour out of her eyes.

"Relax, Akira," her boyfriend, Tadashi, said while trying to reassure her and stuff his face with another one of her wonderful light and flaky scones at the same time. "She probably just overslept or something."

"Hikari never oversleeps, Tadashi!" Akira screeched as her arm swung around like an out of control windmill and knocked him on the back of his head causing the contents of his mouth to spray out everywhere. Pointing a withering finger at him, his girlfriend did the only thing she could do to calm her nerves, she rounded on him unfairly.

"How dare you think about food, when my poor little Hikari could be sick or dying," she said as her eyes narrowed menacingly while her finger poked him in the chest like an angry looking dagger.

Yelping in fear, Tadashi raised his hands defensively as he choked on the scone crumbs that still remained in his mouth, "She has only missed one class so far, don't worry."

As Akira raised her fist to strike the stupid look off of her boyfriend's face, Megumi stepped in-between the pair and showed her what she had written on her steno pad.

"Have you tried to call her yet?"

Tears rolled down her face as Akira nodded mutely, "I have tried calling and texting her at least ten times this morning (sniff). I wanted to see if she wanted to come to my house after school to study with me, but her phone must be turned off!"

Kei stood up, "I will go to her house and check on her."

"Good idea," Akira said as she reached for her purse. Her eyes were resolute as she stood up and moved to follow him. "I am coming too."

With an imperceptible nod of his head, Kei gave her permission to follow him before he started heading toward the double doors. He knew any attempt to stop her would only prove to be futile. Hikari was acting out of character today and they both knew it. Their mutual fear for her safety made them actually get along for once. Neither of them spoke as they walked through the school grounds and began to go in the direction of her house. They had just reached the parking lot when they spotted Hikari, she was running at full speed and her usually tidy, white uniform was crooked and she still had a hairbrush in her hand.

She stopped abruptly with a skid when she spotted her two friends and raised her hand in greeting with the hairbrush still in it. She finally noticed it in her hand and tucked it away in her purse before they reached her.

"H-I-K-A-R-I!" Akira sobbed as she ran and threw her arms around her friend with a muffled cry. "I was so worried about you!"

"I'm sorry, I overslept this morning and I got ready in less than five minutes," her friend explained in a contrite voice. Over Akira's shoulder Hikari's eyes roamed over Kei and she felt a wave of longing come over her. She wished he was the one holding her right now; it had been so long since he had hugged her. It had been weeks since they had even talked to each other for more than five minutes at a time.

She pulled away from Akira's almost compulsively tight grip and lifted her eyes to meet his.

For what seemed like several moments they just stood there and gazed at each other until Hikari became self-conscious about her appearance and she ran a nervous hand over her long and slightly unkempt hair.

Without her even noticing it, Kei was suddenly right in front of her and with a small smile tugging his mouth he straightened out the scarf around her neck. A soft noise escaped his throat that sounded suspiciously like a laugh as he noticed some flecks of sawdust and woodchips in her hair and looked at her with curiously warm eyes. "Have you been chopping wood lately?"

His girlfriend looked utterly adorable to him as she blushed and groaned at the same time, "Don't ask," she mumbled and looked away. Her ears were still ringing from the verbal spanking she got from her father this morning after he spotted his precious table outside, broken and chopped into pieces.

Akira, for once, noticed the way the couple was looking at each other and decided to give them some space, so she started walking back to class. "I will talk to you later, Hikari. I'm glad you are okay," she told her friend with a smile as she looked over her shoulder.

Seeing they were alone, the young couple began walking back to class hand in hand. For the first time in weeks everything felt right with the world and they just enjoyed each other's company.

"You look tired," Hikari said to him a few minutes later. She didn't really want to break the spell they were under, but she really was worried about him. When he didn't answer her she stopped and remarked sadly. "I can tell you are working too hard."

Kei looked away and muttered he was fine. He just needed to keep his mouth shut about the secret project he was working on for his company for a few more weeks and then he would be free. His father and grandfather had promised him a whole month off from working if he did what he was told.

A whole month off and a chance to spend every day of it with Hikari sounded like paradise and he wasn't about to do anything to endanger that reward.

With a gentleness that he only showed to her, he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand almost reverently. His eyes were apologetic as he looked back at her and they silently thanked her for caring about him. Right now it was the only thing keeping him sane as he worked crushingly long hours.

Hikari flashed him a smile that made him seriously weak in the knees and he couldn't stop himself from smiling back at her. He was just about to drag her into his arms and hold her tight and bury his face in her fragrant hair when several of his father's men surrounded him and pinned him face-down into the ground.

Hikari stepped away as she watched his father approach them and barely even took note of it anymore, because scenes like this one happened to them pretty frequently.

"Hello, Mr. Takishima," she called out in a sunny voice.

Kei's father was in the process of running up to them like a wild-eyed baby deer in distress, stopped when he saw her and moderated his pace. "Oh, hello Hikari," he responded with a friendly wave of his hand. "I am sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak to my son for a moment."

Hikari shrugged and smiled at Kei, who was struggling at the bottom of the pile of his father's security team. He broke free enough to say to her, "I will call you later this evening."

"Okay," his girlfriend told him as she turned away and started running towards the greenhouse.

The security team finally let him stand up and Kei, who was not a happy camper at this point after having his precious time with Hikari interrupted, he glared at his father. "Was all of this really necessary, father. I told you I would be available to assist you whenever you needed me this month."

His youthful looking father had the grace to look apologetic, "Sorry, we did it out of habit, I guess. You usually run away from me."

Kei just kept glaring at him, "So, what do you want?"

His father started whining like a little girl, "K-e-i! It's awful; we need you to come to the office right away."

Without another word, Kei, looked up towards the heavens and released a long breath before he followed his father into the back seat and back to hell, I mean, back to work.

S*S*S*S

Later that night, Hikari lifted her head from her book and took a peek at her cell phone to see if there were any new messages. There weren't any new ones, and after checking to see that it was working properly and fully charged she set it back down again with a frustrated sigh.

A few hours later, it was still silent and she realized she was done studying, so with a last long look at her phone, she decided to call him. After it went straight into his voice mail she decided to not leave him a message. It was getting pretty late and she realized he was probably still busy and she didn't want to bother him.

Besides it wouldn't be fair for her to call him and distract him. After all, she was going to beat him tomorrow on the final exam, she just knew it. (Fist pump!)

"Goodnight, Takishima, sleep well, my rival," she whispered out loud just before she fell asleep.

**Author's Note:** I am so sorry I have been neglecting this story. I promise to finish it. Please leave me a review if any of you are still reading it. Thanks.


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